title: Possible etiology of improvements in both quality of life and overlapping gastroesophageal reflux disease by proton pump inhibitor treatment in a prospective randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Symptoms suggestive of functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) frequently overlap with those of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Despite the high prevalence of symptomatic overlap, the underlying etiology remains poorly defined. We assessed the correlation of symptomatic relief and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with healing of reflux esophagitis to further derive insights into the underlying etiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  626 patients with reflux esophagitis were enrolled into one of two treatment groups (classical healing concept or the complete remission concept) to investigate differences in treatment intensity. Patients were treated with pantoprazole until esophageal mucosal healing. Remission was followed for up to 6 months without treatment. Gastro-intestinal symptoms and HRQoL were analyzed using disease-specific, psychometrically validated patient-reported outcome instruments (ReQuest™, GERDyzer™).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Symptomatic burden reflected by ReQuest™ substantially decreased from baseline to end of treatment by 83% and 88% in either treatment group, respectively. ReQuest™ scores significantly decreased in patients with or without heartburn and in those with symptoms suggestive of FD and IBS, indicating response of all symptom categories to treatment (p < 0.005). Therapy-associated relief of symptoms was paralleled by substantial gains in HRQoL, which continued to stabilize post-treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pantoprazole is effective in relieving upper and lower gastro-intestinal symptoms overlapping with erosive esophagitis, and provides sustained improvement in HRQoL post-treatment. Our results propose a link between both healing of erosive esophagitis and the slower remission of upper and lower gastro-intestinal symptoms. Since the improvement observed is likely to be multifactorial, the possibility for an immune-mediated etiology and identification of putative susceptibility factors by genome-wide association study may provide focus for future research.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00325676.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Institute of Neurogastroenterology, Academic Teaching Hospital Martin Luther, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Caspar-Theyß-Str, 27-31, Berlin, 14193, Germany. moennikes@web.de.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mönnikes
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwan
authors.forename: Christo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Rensburg
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Straszak
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Theek
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lühmann
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tholen
mesh_terms: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000150:complications; D004942:Esophagitis, Peptic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077402:Pantoprazole; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors; D000077402:Pantoprazole